Army lacrosse team looks to rebound

Saturday

Feb 9, 2013 at 2:00 AM

WEST POINT — The prevailing thought among the Army lacrosse team is there was a "bad taste" left in their mouth following a 7-8 season, which included five close losses, and a semifinal-round departure in the Patriot League tournament.

Ken McMillan

WEST POINT — The prevailing thought among the Army lacrosse team is there was a "bad taste" left in their mouth following a 7-8 season, which included five close losses, and a semifinal-round departure in the Patriot League tournament.

The Black Knights would like to use the sub-par season as a catalyst but, in reality, this is a different Army team with new players taking over critical spots in goal and the face-off circle, and a talented cast of freshmen ready to assume lead roles — there are eight rookies listed on the first depth chart of the season in advance of Sunday's season opener at Massachusetts.

In fact, Army is tied with Maryland for the fifth-youngest Division I roster in the country with 16 freshmen and 14 sophomores.

"We have a lot of new faces, maybe more so than at any other time since I've been here,'' said Army eighth-year coach Joe Alberici. "We feel really good about it. There are going to be some freshmen who are going to come in and help us. They're not going to have to carry the heavy burden but they will be able to help us.''

Still, there is much optimism in the West Point camp.

"We're ecstatic,'' said senior attack Garrett Thul, a preseason second-team All-America. "This is going to be a great season. We have a lot of new faces. We have a lot of veterans coming back. We have key veterans at every position. We're kind of leading the way for those young guys, teaching them the ways.''

One emphasis during fall and preseason practices has been improved effort on hustle and picking up groundballs, the lifeblood of any lacrosse team — the more balls picked up, the more offensive opportunities can be had and the more goals scored.

"Our motto this year is 'Everything matters,' '' Thul said.

Attitude can turn the tide, senior defender Brendan Buckley said. "We have a little chip on our shoulder, and we're ready to get after it,'' Buckley said. "That will make the difference in (close) games.''

Thul and Buckley are both Patriot League preseason all-stars and All-America candidates. Both recently got drafted by Major League Lacrosse — Thul by Hamilton (Ont.) and Buckley by Boston — and are hopeful of seeing some action this summer, following graduation.

Thul owns the nation's longest goal-scoring streak at 39 matches (he has 104 goals during the streak), dating back to April 3, 2010. Thul will likely become the Academy's all-time leading goal scorer — he has 122 and will certainly challenge the mark of 140 set by 1978 graduate Scott Finlay. Thul has scored 41, 42 and 39 over his first three seasons. Thul ranks 14th in career points with 138 and has an outside shot at cracking the top five (191) and the 200-point barrier.

Army does sport a lot of experience in the midfield. Sophomore John Glesener is a preseason third-team All-America and a preseason league selection, coming off a rookie season when he had 16 goals, 17 assists and 10 groundballs. Seniors Alex Van Krevel (12 points), Andrew Boyd (career-best 15 points) and Pat Brennan (10 points) are among the leaders.

Thul said Army's transition attack is still very effective, and he believes there will be plenty of options for goal-scoring besides himself.

The goalie position is essentially still up for grabs. Sophomore Sam Somers has the inside edge, having posted an 8.14 goals against and .444 saves percentage in four games and 37 minutes last season. Junior Bobby Sincero (11.82, .333) is also challenging.

Senior Matt Mezer will be the lead face-off specialist, replacing all-star Derek Sipperly, who had an outstanding 57 percent success rate.

Alberici said the newcomers and previously unheard of veterans are going to have to make the difference.

"The story of our success will be about the guys nobody knows about right now but hopefully they know about them at the end of the year,'' Alberici said. "If nobody knows them by the end of year then we will not have a successful year, simply put. Those (veteran) guys are going to show the way but it will be all of the other players and how they will be able to step up to meet the moment.''